HNA Buys Currency Exchange Firm ICE

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group has agreed to buy British bureau-de-change operator International Currency Exchange (ICE), the latest takeover in a European investment spree aimed at expanding its business outside Asia.

The acquisitive HNA, which secured an all-cash USD$1.5 billion purchase of Swiss airline caterer Gategroup on Monday, has not disclosed terms of the transaction.

Founded in 1973 and headquartered in London, ICE is one of the world's largest currency exchange retailers, with a network of over 350 branches and bureaux in 70 airports and multiple other locations in 19 countries.

It was sold by Lenlyn Holdings and turns-over in excess of GBP£1 billion (USD$1.4 billion) in currency a year.

ICE will become part of HNA Tourism, one of HNA's fastest growing units, specialising in air travel, hospitality management, tourism, finance, investment and e-commerce.

The acquisition "adds wings to our global coverage of financial services for overseas tourism, and will provide important support to the acceleration of the pace of our internationalisation", HNA Tourism said in a statement.

Under the stewardship of co-founder and chairman Chen Feng, privately-owned HNA has grown into a group with nearly USD$100 billion in assets.